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Roy Keane insists Nottingham Forest will be ‘relegated at CHRISTMAS’ if they continue to concede bad goals…
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Roy Keane believes Nottingham Forest will essentially be ‘relegated at Christmas’ if they don’t turn their Premier League fortunes around soon.
Forest had high hopes for their return to the top after a 23-year exile, although they are 19th in the league with just one win from their first nine games.
Forest was held to a 1-1 draw on Monday night after Ashley Young canceled Emmanuel Dennis’ opening game.
Nottingham Forest’s 1-1 draw against Aston Villa kept them within the relegation zone on Monday
Roy Keane believes Forest ‘will be relegated before Christmas’ if form doesn’t improve soon
Keane told Sky Sports’ Monday Night Football that he had “sympathy” for Steve Cooper as his former side brought in 23 new players over the summer.
He said: “There would always be a lot of players coming to the club, I don’t think anyone would have thought there would be 23, that’s really crazy.
“Obviously they had loaned out a lot of players last year and they had to invest and when you invest and bring in so many players you need a good start.
“It’s just, I think what you want from a promoted team is to survive if you can, stay in the PL and you want a little bit of team spirit and fighting.
Forest decided last week to support manager Steve Cooper by offering him a new contract
“It’s very difficult to create that when you bring 22 players to a club, so yes, I have a lot of sympathy for him (Cooper).
“But if we make him believe that he is a brilliant coach, then we need to see more of that, especially in terms of tightening up in the back. If they continue to concede the goals, they will be relegated by Christmas.’
Cooper’s side have struggled on both sides of the pitch this season, scoring just seven goals, while only Leicester – who are 20th in the league – have conceded more goals than Forest’s 22.
Forest has struggled on their return to the top with just one win in nine games
There was intense speculation last week about Cooper’s future at the club, following their 4-0 defeat to Leicester in the last Monday Night Football game.
Towards the end of last week, the club’s owner, Evangelos Marinakis, decided to back the Welshman, signing a deal until 2025.
Despite their poor start, Forest is only two points away from safety and could be ahead of Wolves if they win at the Molineux this weekend.